Are You Strong Enough
by Emerin
Summary: You can't change the way I am, but try to love me if you can.Lie to me,I'd believe,but please don't leave.When I'm broken down and I can't stand,would you be man enough to be my man? xSLASH DracoHarry xMy Happy Ending sequel


Hullo gentle readers!

Since I was inspired and it was VERY much demanded, I decided to write the sequel to "My Happy Ending"... Yes. I rock. :bows:

As I'm sure you all could tell, My Happy Ending was inspired by the song of the same name. Sooo, the same goes for this one. The title and summary are kinda like what Harry's trying to ask/say Draco the entire time. :shrugs: Try and guess the song though:')

Without further adieu, here's the sequel! Enjoy and review!

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He sunk his head deeply in his hands. Cold, bitter tears of shame spilled in rivlets across his palms and down his pale arms. A cool breeze of evening wafted throughout the empty flat, rufflingsoft locks of platinum blonde,but he barely noticed. All he could feel was the pain ripping him apart at the seams. What an idiot he'd been... 

Draco Malfoy sat on the floor of the kitchen, mildly astonished he'd gotten this far. He had been thirsty (crying for a wek straight tended to leave one rather parched) and somehow managed to stagger from the couch to the sink before he'd subcumbed to another bout of hysterical sobbing. But now that the tears were subsiding and the pang of an empty stomach alerting him to some basic needs, he realized just how horribly he'd taken this all.

Why should he be crying, when it was his fault all along? He knew what he was doing when he slept with those men and was aware of the presents he bought them with the money fromthe joined Gringotts account. He knew the bills would end up at home and in Harry's hands.

So why was he crying? Why was he berating himself for three months of meticulous plotting and scheming? Why was he damning himself?

Fresh tears trickled from his glacial eyes in response and his heart gave a painful twinge. His heart knew exactly why he was crying, if his brain was refusing to admit it.

Five years on the 6th. Five years of waking up to a mop of ebony curls carressing his jaw. Five years ofhesitant fingers seeking his out discretely while they walked. Five years of a pliant, willing bodydotingly offering itself to him. Five years of a hot meal and asweet smile greeting him when he came home.Five years of unconditional love and strong arms to engulf him when things got just too HARD. Five years of Harry.

Before he knew it or had the sense to stop it, he had become accustomed to seeing Harry's face when he needed a reason to smile, or holding the man's hand when he needed reassurance. He'd grown to cherish the man more than any precious treasure. Cause Harry was HIS treasure, his shining jewel. And now he lost it. And it was his own fault.

THAT'S why he cried and yelled out in agony and never showered and took up residence on the couch on the offchance that perhaps Harry had a change of heart and decided to come back. The door was left unlocked for that sole purpose.  
But Harry never came and Draco was letting the tendrils of emptiness take hold. The possibility of living out the rest of his life alone was bleak. He didn't have any other family ('least not ones that wanted anything to do with him since he betrayed the Dark Lord) and the truth was, he didn't have any real friends. Sure, they were there for him when he asked them to be, but he knew it was more for their own gain than for his benefit. He was still an influential part of the Ministry and made an excellent living apart from the gold he inherited from his dead father.

Blaise and Pansy would ALWAYS be there. It was sort of their default. When all else failed, there was the three of them. It was as inevitable as his relationship with Harry.

Merlin, had they been happy. He remembered the first time he accidently kissed the brunette onthe firstof their missions for the Order. He thought he was going to die. Hell, they ALL did. Storming one of Voldemort's secret hideouts with no more than 20 Order members was suicide. So, he'd grabbed Harry, confessed he'd always thought him a good chap and planted a quick kiss on his lips.  
Imagine his surprise when the lair turned up empty and everyone alivebut puzzled. But Harry hadn't mocked him or rubbed it in. No...he'd waited until they were back at Hogwarts then accostedthe blondeon the way to Gryffindor Tower and they'd snogged eachother's brains out.

Life after that had followed in the same manner. And Draco loved every second of it.

So why...WHY did he sabotage it? Why did he destroy their happiness?

If he was honest with himself, he knew it could be traced back to his father's obsession with stomping out every bit of joy in his life. But he couldn't put the entire blame on the maniac. He himself took a big chunk of blame as well. He LET the man's words influence his future with Harry. He let himself become so scared, he took the cowardly way out and made Harry do the breaking up.He convinced himself he could live without the other man, that he could walkaway from five years unscathed and indifferent. Merlin, WHY!

Another wave of guilt swept over Draco, bringing him crumbling to the chilly linoleum floor. It was too late to fool himself into thinking this was for the best, that he'd only ruin Harry's life by keeping him in Draco's. No. He knew he needed Harry just as badly as the man needed him. He couldn't count the number of times Harry had saved him in face of dying himself. The man was selfless and brave and honorable, but it was only Draco that made him reckless and suicidal.  
And god he loved him for it.

Draco barely had the energy to push himself off the ground, knowing he'd catch a cold, and instead left himself there. The coolness was comforting and numbed his skin in places Harry used to fondle affectionately. He wanted those places to freeze over and fall off, to burn and vanish into ash. He didn't want to remember anything about the brunette. He didn't want to remember the brutal mistake he'd made and couldn't rectify.

He might've been angry if he weren't so weak, but he knew he could never truly be angry at Harry. The boy was his Achilles. Damn him.

The sun sank beneath the tops of the buildings, throwing erratic streaks of red,orange and gold onto the picture-adorned walls. Shadows fell over faces of friends and Weasleys and a smiling married couple. Moments of pure bliss captured to replay over and over and over and over...

Draco stared blankly at them, remembering those times when he was most happy...how he wished...

A soft creak came from the doorway and a strong silohuette outlined against the wall. Draco might've moved a bit to see it better, but he just didn't care at this point. If it was a robber, they could take every blasted thing. He'd stop them if they dared touch the pictures, though...Yes... But he'd just lie here otherwise.

The shadow seemed to pause as it closed the door with a quiet click, then turned to look in his direction. It hurried over and as it crouched down at his side, Draco felt the corners of his lips twitch. The haphazard hair and the shocking green eyes were just as recognizable in hues of reds and golds as any other.

He felt himself slowly being lifted, a question making its way into his fuzzy head.

"...what happened? Are you ok?"

Draco's eyes never made it to the handsome, concerned face. He couldn't bear the shame he knew was etched across his own features.

"Draco!"

"I...couldn't make it to the sink...weak..."

A hand gripped his arm and he was inclined to look up. Harry's face had hardened and grew dark in places. Dracogrimaced and looked away.

"So, let yourself go to pieces, have you? Its your own fault, you know."

He flinched, knowing the words rang true.

"Dug your own grave, now sleep it in." The hand left his arm and he felt more than saw Harry stand up."Just came to get the rest of my things. I won't be long."

Draco hunched over, squeezing his eyes shut against the onslaught of gaping emptiness. He could hear Harry shuffling and drawers opening andclosing and the closet door clicking shut. He followed the man's deftfootfalls as theycame downthe hall and crossed the living room. He could swear by those footsteps. Light on the right, but heavy on the left ever since that spill down the staircase of the Shrieking Shack.

A soft sniffle and he was gone. Again.

Draco looked up as he was left once more in the apartment. Laughter resided in the walls and the couch looked so lonely without two bodies curled up on it. He could smell curry from bingo night and popcorn when Harry had been surprised during that horror film. The table wobbled in the mild breeze, still broken from one of their passionate love-makings and the front door creaked back and forth, evident of more than once slamming shut in a fit of fury.  
So much memory. So much...HARRY.

Draco struggled to his bare feet and stumbled out the door. He scrambled down the stairs, snagging the sleeve of his arm on the railing. Frantically looking both ways down the street, he hastily darted to the right, grateful of the knowledge that Harry never Disapparated when he could help it. He bowled over innocent pedestrians, ignoring their cries of protest and eternal revenge.

The evening air was wrapping round him, making his unused muscles ache and sting. His lungs burned, breath coming out in ragged pants. He didn't even know when he had stepped on something, if the piercing pain racing up his leg was any indicator of a severe wound. He didn't care about himself anymore. It should've been that way all along, but he was too blind and too MALFOY.

But he knew now. He could do things properly this time around. And since he knew, he wasn't about to let go. It took alot to get a Malfoy to change, and he'd be damned if Harry didn't atleast KNOW.

He stumbled over something and whimpered as the wound in his foot widened. But it didn't matter. He found him.

"HARRY!"

The man turned round with a start, his face completely shocked.

Draco pushed himself from the post box that had been supporting him, and ran full out at the astonished brunette. Not giving the man time enough to protest, Draco tackled him and held him in a fierce hug.

"I know I fucked up! I know I'll never be forgiven! But Merlin help me if I don't want to TRY!"

Harry's hand settled on his lower back hesitantly.

"I'm a horrible, selfish scrap of a human being, but you make me forget that Harry. You make me better.I don't want to lose that. I don't want to become like my father."

The hand pressed and slid up his back.

"I'm not asking for anything for myself. Just let me be by your side. Let me be there for you whenever you need me."

Arms enveloped him in a warmth he didn't think would ever happen again. Warm tears trickled softly down his neck and he was held tighter.

"Draco..."

He wanted to cry at the sound of wary in the man's voice.

"Are you strong enough...to be my man?"

Draco lifted his head up, uncaring of the crowds of onlookers gathered round them. They only better served his purpose. He stared down at the beautiful man beneath him, relishing the familiar slender build and the way black fringe strayed into piercing green eyes. Harry was fragile beneath all that courage and chivalry. He broke just as easily as anyone else and now Draco saw it. He saw that he needed to take care of the brunette, not the other way around.  
Silencing his father's harsh lectures on queers and sin, ignoring the comments Blaise and Pansy made aboutlying Gryffindors, disregarding his own well-crafted walls, Draco pressed a hot and firm kiss onto Harry's lips.

The man gasped and Draco devoured that sweet mouth. This was HIS Harry. Delicate and gorgeous and pure and shining. He had to protect all that. He had to make sure everyday, for the rest of his life, Harry could smile. And even when he didn't, when he was overcome with grief at losing his entire family to a cruel madman, when he sunk beneath the burden of the world, when his just couldn't handle anything, Draco had to make sure he was there to carry it for him. He knew all that now.

Pulling back from those wet, soft lips, he spoke just as firmly as his kiss." Yes."

Harry's eyes shimmered with tears and hands tangled in his hair and onlookers gasped and cooed.

"I love you Harry Potter. I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you."

Harry hugged him desperately, tears coming in thick floods. Draco buried his nose in that warm neck, nuzzling the soft locks that he adored so much.

"Don't ever do that again! Don't you EVERleave me alone!"

Draco hugged the man--boy--, tighter, pressing a soft kiss onto a wet cheek."I'll always be here, Harry. Even when you cry and hate and damn the world.I'll be here."

They stayed on that dirty sidewalk, clumps of blushing neighbors whispering 'i knew it!' as they watched, a smiling redhead and a scowling dark-skinned boy joining the crowd.But they didn't care. It was only eachother...Like it wasalways supposed to be.


End file.
